“Does It Really Matter?”

I would like to ask you a question. “Does it really matter?”

Let’s put some context with it. For starters, does it really matter where you are right now? Maybe your answer is, not really. I can be where I want to when I want to. It really doesn’t matter. Would your answer be different if you knew Jesus would be where He asked you to be?

Do you hear yourself saying it really doesn’t matter when others ask your thoughts or opinions? How did we get to the place in our lives where ultimately we often say ‘que sera sera’ -whatever will be will be? I think it starts with the little things. For example, have you considered these three areas when it comes to “Does it really matter?”

~Does it really matter what we say? Not just what we say, but how we say it and even when we say it.  James 3:8-10 states, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue, we praise our Lord and Father, and with it, we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. James tells us we can’t control what we say, but the Holy Spirit in us can if we allow Him to. To get control of our mouth, we have to give up control.

~Does it really matter where we go? And who we go with? And what we do where we go? Cravings, desires, and longings are symptoms of a greater desire for the One who created us. Maybe we don’t recognize it because we don’t know how much He desires us to receive His love. If your knowledge of sin gets in your way to the point of letting sin rule you, you can choose a different king to sit on the throne of your heart. To read more about the sin issue click this link https://www.gweinc.org/blog/isthereasinissue

~Does it really matter what we watch, listen to, and read? When we realize that whatever we take into the gates of our body – eye gates and ear gates, goes into our heart and eventually comes out of our mouth gate. In Matthew 12:34, Jesus says…out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

Maybe your answer to all or some of these areas is, no, it does not matter, but you want it to be YES. If so, there are some spiritual antidotes. Here are a few.

1.   To Care – if God has done his part in giving us His Son, now we receive His great love by faith. We must care about what God cares about.

2.   To Understand - the root of all sin is from the devil and is evil. We are commanded to hate it, and to believe that Jesus paid for it all.

3.   To Love - God for Who He is. The Creator of the Universe desires to live in you. Stand in awe of Him.

4.   To Embrace - Jesus, the lover of your soul. He is your answer for everything!

5.  To Trust -His Holy Spirit removes from you those things, the little foxes that keep tripping you up. He will not leave a void, but replace it with something far more valuable – His Spirit!

Finally, let’s be like Paul, who called himself the greatest sinner of all. In Timothy 1:15, Paul tells us the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost".  With this thought, he goes on to say more in another letter to the church. I pray we can say the same thing. Be bold, insert your name as you read these verses.

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:8-14).

If we humble ourselves like Paul, pray like Moses, and confess our sins like Peter, we have a promise that God will hear us, forgive our sins (through the blood of Jesus), and heal us, our family, and our land (2 Chronicles 7:14)

What are we waiting for? God has done His part. Let’s do our part!!!

Until next time, remember the matter of the heart IS the heart of the matter. It does matter!

Dr. Michele

November 3, 2024